#stellatheknave

[onenicebugperday]

as a follow up to my last question, are there any mature bugs with caterpillar-grade squishiness?

I suppose the only ones that really come to mind are flightless female moths! They are very round n fuzzy n soft. Here’s a female rusty tussock moth laying eggs:

I love her :’)

Photo by sskorpio

[peridotite]

blue han solo bitch?

blue han solo bitch :/

[sbuggbot]

(credit goes to @lulu-balu )

[redandbluebracket]

oh my god i cant believe i forgot goku and vegeta

They got 1 vote, so somebody remembered!

[bestbutchbracket]

was i the only illaoi submission 🥺

sadly yes 😔 you were right though when i looked at her all was revealed

[thornshadowwolf]

men

Love 'em

[pearl-likes-pi]

One last meme dump? For old times sake?

Oh absolutely there will be memes

[kaijutegu]

How would you recommend a tegu as a pet?

I’d recommend them to people who have a lot of time, space, money, and reptile experience. Tegus are amazing animals, but they aren’t for beginners. Even a big sweetheart like Kaiju is not an easy animal! But she’s the most awesome animal I’ve ever had, and I can’t imagine life without a tegu in it. 

Tegus require a cage that’s at least 6 feet long- more for a male, at least 8- by at least 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. About a foot of that cage should be filled with substrate to let them dig, and they need lots of stuff to keep them occupied. They’re smart cookies and if they get bored, they get destructive. They have pretty intense heat and humidity needs, and they can get really sick if those aren’t met. They need to see exotic vets, and while Kaiju wasn’t expensive to buy (since she was feral in Florida, I basically just had to pay a guy to go get her out of the swamp), babies can go for over a thousand dollars depending on species and genetics. Then there’s knowing their body language- tegus can easily break a person’s hand with a bite, and if you don’t know what they’re saying with how they’re moving and acting, you can put yourself and others at risk. I’ve spent almost six years working with Kaiju at this point; I know pretty much exactly what she’s going to do next. I know her tolerances, her likes, her dislikes- I know what she finds rewarding, how she communicates fear, and at what point tension turns into annoyance or fearful reactions. I know enough about her to know what situations she’ll excel in, and what situations would be negatively stressful. 

So if it’s that tough, why keep tegus? For me, it’s not just about having a cool big lizard, it’s about communicating with an intelligence that’s so different from my own- and finding common ground with her. I want to give her the best life possible, and for a smart lizard, that means a stimulating life. She’s an ambassador for her species, both as a caution (we do a lot of educational work about invasive species) and as a wonder (she lights up a room- there’s nothing like seeing a little kid pet her and realize that there’s nothing icky or slimy about reptiles, but that the animal in front of them is clever and genuinely interested in what they’re doing). 

I’ve never had a bond with an animal, including dogs, that’s as emotional and well-communicated as Kaiju. That to me is why I have a tegu as a pet- because she’s so curious and so smart and her drive to work with me comes from her deep instinct to investigate everything, to solve every puzzle she’s presented with. It’s an enormous undertaking, and it’s one of the best things in my life.